In prior art systems, the mobility operational parameters such as the level of noise at which to mute the audio conversation and the signal strength threshold at which to switch from one base station to another base station has been preprogrammed either into a wireless terminal such as a wireless telephone handset or into the wireless telecommunication system. This technique has worked reasonably well for traditional cellular systems because such cellular systems normally perform seamless handoffs and have a small number of base stations with each base station covering a large geographical area. However, in personal communication service (PCS) systems, the technique of preprogramming the mobility operation parameters into the wireless terminal has not been successful for the following reasons. First, PCS systems have a large number of base stations, often in the hundreds, with each base station having limited power, covering only a small geographical area. The result is that as a wireless terminal moves, the wireless terminal is constantly registering on different base stations if the hand-off signal threshold level becomes too high. Similarly, the muting due to noise as a wireless terminal moves will often cause a conversation to be frequently interrupted. Each individual user has their own preference of how often they are willing to have their conversation interrupted as muting occurs or a new base station is selected. Some users want overall excellent reception and others are willing to put up with a noise in order to maintain more constant communication. The switching from base station to base station is further complicated by the fact that PCS systems normally do not provide seamless handoffs because of the large number of base stations.
The problem is made more difficult by the fact that the air interface for PCS systems normally is at a higher frequency than that for cellular systems. The result is that the radio signals communicated between wireless terminals and base stations are more easily interfered with by walls or people's bodies. It is well known that certain PCS air interfaces can cause a wireless terminal to switch from one base station to another base station simply because the user of the wireless terminal turns 180.degree.. The problem is that the person's head creates enough interference with the signal from the original base station to cause the wireless terminal to switch to a second base station.
How the mobility operational parameters should be set depends on each particular user, and the activity in which the user happens to be enaged in at a particular point in time. For example, some users may be relatively stationary and want to adjust their mobility operational parameters for this state; however, the user then may become mobile going to lunch or meetings and want to adjust for this increase in mobility. Other users will be constantly moving such as security guards and maintenance personnel. Some wireless terminals may be stationary and only utilize the wireless link to avoid the cost of having to wire a terminal into a telecommunication system. For example, copying machines now routinely have provisions for a telecommunication connection to a centralized maintenance facility. For a copying machine, it may well be desirable to lock the copying machine's communication to one particular base station to assure high quality data transmission.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need in the art for users to have the capability of periodically adjusting their mobility operational parameters to fit the activities of the user. Clearly, for the vast majority of the users, this capability must be non-technical in nature. However, some users may want to have full control over the mobility operational parameters and be able to specify these parameters in precise numerical values.